Alternative/Renewable Energy




Posted by: Mary Rose Tolentino


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Heats up


Ever been on a steam bath before? If you did, did you know where it originated from and how it is made? Well the first steam baths where used and designed by the ancient Greeks and Romans. They used pipes and pumps that bring the hot water up to the pool areas, wherever the natural springs exist (cited by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steambath). Did you know that these natural hot springs are heated by the core of our very own planet?
 (Image from http://en.wikipedia.org)

Geothermal Energy is heat generated from the Earth. It came from hot shallow rocks and water and even in deep beneath the earth. It can be used to generate electricity. So how do people utilize this and use it as a form of alternative energy? According to www.nationalgeographic.com, there are three types of geothermal power plants: Dry Steam, Flash and Binary.
(Image from www.inlportal.inl.gov)


Dry Steam is the oldest form of geothermal power plant. It pulls out steam from fractures in the ground and uses it to drive the turbine to produce electricity.
(Image from www. technologystudent.com)

Flash Power Plants pull high pressured hot water into cooler, low pressured water, the steam that is generated will be used to power up the turbine.
(Image from http://www1.eere.energy.gov)

Binary Power Plants the hot water is passed by a secondary fluid. It causes the fluid to evaporate that drives the turbine.
Geothermal Energy has its advantages and disadvantages, Geothermal Energy can be extracted without the use of any burning of fuel, and especially no emission of smoke and it is available all the time. On the other hand, its release of hydrogen sulfide, a gas that smells like rotten egg and another is the disposal of a toxic fluid (cited from www .nationalgeographic.com).






Posted by: Kevinross Bool

6 comments:

  1. Uhuh. Thumbs up for a substantial blog! :) :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. I understood about the Geothermal Energy part. The explanation is a bit short so it sort of limits what my mind can perceive. It would be more helpful to the reader if the explanation is more brief.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's a nice, organized post although it skimps a little on the info. A good post nonetheless.

    ReplyDelete
  4. everything is well said,it seems that the explanation are short, however..it was easier to understand with the images..

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very concise and very informative! However you might need to expound more on some points as for everyone to fully understand. But putting it in layman's terms? AWESOME. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. nice article. it gives us an idea on what is geothermal energy all about.

    ReplyDelete